I am done with exams .. and studying

I have finally ended my exams ... and the masters that took me 1 1/2 years to complete. Through National service and then finally finishing it up with NS ending too. So it's off for a month os rest and then i will start work on 27 dec.

It really is kinda of strange that i am done with studying. When i finished my bachelors, i never really thought that i would end studying. Just keep it on hold. But now with the masters over, I really don't see any more studying. Unless a phd? maybe a phd in a few years time. That I have to wait and see. Can't think of a topic to write for a thesis - maybe the political economy of international trade? Maybe the China trade issues with the US? hmm ... will have to explore that. Well at least my work will allow me to think about these issues .. hopefully i am not worked to the bone.

I will be starting my holiday ... in 5 ..4 ...3...2...1. :P

Kiss of death

Just came across a really depressing news story. It was kinda funny but then someone actually died so i should stop chuckling. Anyway, this girl kissed her boyfriend who just ate some peanuts (or something with peanuts). She is allergic and so she died. Very sad .. but seriously what are the chances of this happening?

dont believe me .. here

Christina Desforges, a Canadian teenager allergic to peanuts actually lost her life after she stole a kiss with her boyfriend who had just consumed a peanut-based snack. The allergy that affects just over a percent of the population caused the 15-year old to go into anaphylactic shock despite an immediately administered adrenalin shot. The girl eventually died four days after the lethal kiss of respiratory failure.

One thing i am surprised is that the news story was not titled KISS OF DEATH!! or BOY KILLS GIRL WITH A KISS!! or something equally corny. I bet the newpaper (Singapore's only tabloid) would feature it with such a title.

I got a new pet - Cocoa

Presenting Cocoa - my new pig .. yes this is again another sad attempt of me procrastinating. While blog hopping, i found a tiger in a friend's friend's blog and thought how cute.

if you move your cursor over the pig .. it will follow the pet and click on it .. it will squile (? god my spelling has deteriorated after word spellcheck was invented. haha)

I can't seem to place the codes in this entry but not to worry, i have placed the codes in the side bar. So now cocoa resides at the bottom of the page. Waiting for you to play with her.

Dear Van ... you should have stopped-over in Thailand or Malaysia!

unless you have been sleeping under a rock or have been living in Singapore (there seems to be little reporting of the case in the Singapore press), Singapore is about to execute Nyugen Thuong Van this friday because he smuggled drugs into Singapore en route to Melbourne. The Australians are very angry that they are killing one of their own while the Singaporeans are rather blase about it, as usual in fact.

I myself don't have an opinion on the death sentence. It's good and bad .. yet seriously, if you are going to traffic drugs, WHY did you choose to use Singapore as a stopover from Cambodia, my dear Van? You could have gone to Malaysia, or Thailand (two very popular stopover destinations) and if caught, at least there might be a saving chance that the Australian people and government might "persuade" the Malaysian or Thai government to commute the sentence to life instead of death, right??

Instead, you chose Singapore. The country that refused to commute your sentence to life despite pleas from the Australian people and government. The country that did not reduce the sentence for Michael McFay in the 1990s, despite pleas from the Untied States (the super-power at that time). The country that does not recognise the jurisdiction of the International courts.

To change the sentence would reverse decades of policies.

It would signal to the people that the government is amenable to pressure (get ready all you civil society people!!).

It would basically signal to the people that the government is fallible. (Shock!! 4 decades of party rule and socialisation down the drain).

I seriously doubt the Singapore government will change their stance in this matter.

So pray for Van .. cos there is really nothing else we can do.

I confess .... I am a TV Junkie

I have been watching a lot of TV lately.. Even during the exam period. I would study and plan my study breaks to coincide with the TV shows. Yes my study breaks can last for over an hour. Shocking isn't it :P

well I have always been a TV junkie and even while studying during my honours year, I still watched a lot of TV. And still managed a decent grade so I don't think I will stop watching TV anytime soon.

Recently I stumbled upon this website for TV junkie called TVgasm . So funny the way they blog about the shows. I especially how they are insulting the most HATED family on TV right now .. The irritating WEAVER family on amazing race. Here's an excerpt:

Well, the Linzes left the Pitstop second, but because they really didn't have anything fascinating to say, we'll just move onto team #3: God's flavorite bunch of daffy devotees, the Weavers. Commence self-aggrandizing... NOW!

"The world we live in is obviously not loving and kind; so I think we're just sticking out because we're not as like crude," explained eldest dimwit daughter Rebecca. So apparently throwing garbage at another team does not count as crude. (Maybe it's more rude than crude.) Nevertheless, Linda reiterated her daughter's point, saying, "It's just so against our beliefs just to keep being treated so rudely." I wonder, does anyone actually believe in being treated rudely? Well, as a family sensitive to the way they are received, I'm sure the Weavers will in turn act in a manner that represents their values and beliefs. The higher road, if you will. What's that old Christian tenet? Love thy neighbor as thyself?

You can read more here.

Why do Institutions matter in Politics?

I have been trying to study (read memorise) for my exam in comparative politics tom. and this is supposedly one of the questions that will be coming out for tom - why do institutions matter in politics? So let me revise a little while i Procrastinate and this would be a good crib sheet for those who want the answer to that question ...

- to understand how institutions shape today's politics, we have to understand how institutions shape politics in the past (path dependency)
- institutions shape how politics is conducted
- institutions shape incentives which then shape political behaviour
- the persistance of informal institutions make them important because of their influence on politics
- Insitutions can affect the governance of a country
- institutions provide us with a context to understand how people rationalise and intepret actions and decisions
- even if institutions do not work as they should, they still have an impact on politics

and finally, Institutions matter because ..... IT IS COMING OUT IN TOMORROW'S EXAM. (or at least i hope it will).

It's official

I start work on 27 Dec ... till then I have to go shopping.
Here's to a new beginning.

sent...

just sent the acceptance email to the agency.

Is my fate sealed.. future determined??

Taking the plunge

Been thinking about it and i have decided that i will accept that job offer. What else do i have ... says almost all of my friends, and parents. Also i like the job scope (something that i really wanted to do and experience) .. But what is this thing about stuff that comes too easily.

I applied to the job, I interviewed for the job (with some help given from the HR lady who gave my the essay questions, prepped me for the different interviewees, their questions, and personality) and then got the job offer. It's the first job I really applied (the other one in July - MFA was really a joke :P).

So I wonder how come? How come it's so easy? Am I just not confident that I am actually convincing in the interview, that these people actually see more than just a dumb tall guy?? Maybe they jsut need someone big to carry their bags when they go overseas :P hahaha .. that would be funny. It's something that I have always been doing for my mum.

So here i am taking the plunge, about to send the email to accept the job offer, but it is currently residing in my draft folder...

My procrastination entry ... "Cool application"

Found this new widget called screenshot plus . Really great. You can take a picture of the icons that you have on your desktop ... like this

Also you can take a picture of your desktop .. like this.



It's really fun and allowed me to waste AT LEAST 10 mins playing around with the widget :) back to work... (currently I am reading about civil society in Japan - past and present situations. It's not as dry as you think)

Hello ... World!!!

Just completed my first exam and three more to go ... sigh .. then it will be the end of my uni career for now. I will be going into the brave new world of WORK - the world where things matter and grades are not the only things that matter. The world where your friends will not be in the grad room waiting for you. The world where you have to wake up at 8 just to get to work at 9 so that you can end at 6 (assuming that you do end at 6).

Well i will be accepting the job offer from THAT govt agency so I was just wondering whether I can blog after that?? definitely nothing too personal about work .. but then with the type of work .. I won't be having a life to blog about. hahaha


So right now i have 3 more exams to go before the world beckons. I plan to go on a holiday but due to the lack of companions and time and the general sucky weather in the northern hemisphere, I am short of places to go.

So to ANYONE that wants to go on holiday - whther it is to batam, bali, bangkok, bangladesh, britain or brazil (goodness .. i am on a roll!!) please call me a along .. I promise i would be a nice travel companion.

I hate job hunting ... why is it so DIFFICULT

I just got the terms for my job .. one word - dissappointing. The job is interesting (trade negotiations for Singapore - something that i want to do and have been working hard in school to get into). But the pay is *ahem* a little on the low side. What happen to the weberian bureaucracy principles in the Singapore govt. What happen to the "i wil pay them higher so that i can attract talented pp" mantra??? WHY!! Well i will just have to see what happens after the pay review tom?

Also just got a call from a bank .. i got selected for the tests - the FIRST stage of the interview process. God .. i hate the emotional rollercoaster that they put you through. First, you are selected .. you think great, i am IN! Then, if you get through and see the HR pp, you think .. wow one more step. Then if you dont make it after that.. its the "sorry you did not make it, but this year's applicants are of a high quality. Its not you and the Bloody freaking market that is working against you. You are still good" type of mesage. It's like a bloody relationship... well, will see what happens this friday. Wish me luck!

What the fcuk - there is spam in the blogging world too?

I just blogged about my job offer and then received two comments ... i thought wow .. i have fans. Alas, false alarms .. its some lame shit from anonymous pp. prob using the comments to advertise. I can't believe this. You can check out the comments on the previous blog entry.

my first job offer

haha ... i got a job offer today from the only company that I interviewed with :D
but i am not sure whether to accept it or not? Would working in the public sector affect my chances to work in the private sector later on? maybe i have to go and ask some pp out there... but the answer is no .. unless you are in the public sector for too long (like maybe 5 years). hmmm .. something to ponder about this weekend until monday when i go down to the office to discuss the terms.

Well today has been a good day ... i got an A+ for my media assignment about the media analysis of the privatisation of Japan Post and an A for my media mid-sem exams :P hahhaa ... at least i get rewarded for my effort .. unlike job hunting.

I found a new pic ... HAPPY THOUGHTS PEOPLE... HAPPY THOUGHTS

... in relation to the previous entry

previous entry about job hunting.. sometimes i feel like that

Had an interview today - The job hunt continues

I had an interview today .. well yesterday (tuesday) actually. It was the third round of interviews (final round) so i am hoping something good comes out of it. It seems like I was the only one left interviewing. So if not me then who? But then i am really unsure whether I should venture into the public sector. would it jeopardise my future? would it brand me as a public secotr person, forever unable to return to land of honey and milk - the private sector?

argh .. i have job-hunting... it's so demoralising and so introspective. especially when you get the rejection email - "thank you for applying but you have not been selected (ie REJECTED). You were a strong candidate but the applications this year were strong and we found that there were more suitable candidates (ie IT'S NOT YOU - YOU DON'T SUCK. IT'S US. IT'S THE COMPETITION)". God ... how shitty!! a rejection email is a rejection email. Sugarcoating it only makes it worse.

The job hunt continues.

... finally a new design

I decided to change my design after seeing that it is so disfigured on my safari browser.
Well i cheated and just took a template from blogger.com and then slightly modified it with my own links ... I have to try to change it and make it mine. Own it!!

You RIke?? :P

Finally done with assignments .. onwards to exams

I have finally finished my last assignment today - my Japanese studies essay abotu expatriates in Japan. Fun thing was I got to interview my aunt and uncle who were expats in Japan. Overall the whole assignment was actually fun. And my presenation kick ASS with all the pretty graphics and the great images ... thanks to my mastery of Keynotes :) Thanks Steve ...

Anyway .. onwards to exams. Four exams more. The first one will start in about 1 1/2 weeks time and the last will end on 30 Nov. Hopefully ... i hope and pray that I can go to Italy in early Dec :P I have that fate would favour me with a holiday after I finish my exams.

I have an interview tom with EDB - my third one ... *cross fingers* but then ... well I won't say anything now. Who knows who is reading this blogs - prob no one. haha!

New blog template - procrastination odyssey part deux

just realise i have to change my blog template... it looks funny on safari and I cant stand it.
Soon ... well that's relative ... prob at the end of the year. haha

Found Nice pictures - procrastination odyssey

I found these picutres in deviant art by this person called nocturnal devil - i think they look very burton-isque. Which reminds me .. I have not watched Corspe bride yet. God, I hate it when assignments and school ruin my movie outings. :P